Telescope with integral printer

ABSTRACT

A telescope ( 800 ) includes a lens ( 802 ) and an eyepiece ( 801 ) by which a person can view a remote object. The telescope includes a built-in printer to provide an instantaneous permanent record of an image viewed by the person. Upon activation of a trigger ( 817 ), a permanent graphic image is printed onto a sheet ( 816 ) that passes out of the telescope via slot ( 804 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The following invention relates to a device having an in-built imagesensor and an internal print engine, and, more particularly, to atelescope having an internal printer.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Conventional telescopes include a lens or sequence of lenses and aneyepiece through which a person can view a remote object. It is known toattach a camera to a telescope in order to take a photograph of a remoteobject.

Moreover, it would be beneficial for amateur astronomers, bird watchers,mariners and any other person wishing to use a telescope if a permanentprinted record of what has been viewed could be made, instantaneouslyand inexpensively.

CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present inventionare disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by theapplicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with thepresent application: AP39 AP43 AP44 AP46 AP47 AP48 AP49 AP50 AP51 AP52AP53 AP55 AP58 AP60 AP61 AP62 AP63 AP64 AP65 AP66 AP67 AP68 AP69 AP70AP71 AP77 AP78 AP79

The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated hereinby cross-reference. Each application is temporarily identified by itsfile reference. This will be replaced by the corresponding PCTApplication Number when available.

RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS AND PATENTS

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DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a telescope having abuilt-in printer for printing a graphic image corresponding to anoptical image received optically by the telescope.

Preferably, the telescope includes an image sensor for sensing theoptical image and converting it to image data, and a print enginecontroller for receiving the image data and controlling a printhead toprint the graphic data based on the image data.

In a preferred embodiment, the telescope includes:

-   -   a micro-control circuit operatively connected to the print        engine controller to control a motor driver for print media        transportation; and    -   a motor driver for operating a guillotine motor to sever a        printed image from a roller of print media.

Preferably, the telescope includes image memory associated with theprint engine controller.

It is also preferred that the telescope further include imageenhancement circuitry for enhancing the image data prior to printing.

Preferably, the printhead is a pagewidth printhead, and more preferablyis an inkjet printhead.

In a preferred embodiment, the printer includes a print engine assemblycomprising first and second sub-assemblies, the first sub-assemblyincorporating an ink source and print media, and the second sub-assemblyincorporating a printhead.

In a preferred form, the telescope includes a longitudinal body throughwhich passes at least some of the optical path of light entering thetelescope, and a slot extending along the body through which the graphicimage is, in use, dispensed.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the printer includes a source ofprint media, configured such that the print media moves in a print paththat is generally orbital about an axis of the body of the printer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred and exemplary embodiment of the invention will now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:—

FIG. 1 shows a three dimensional view of a print engine, includingcomponents in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a three dimensional, exploded view of the print engine;

FIG. 3 shows a three dimensional view of the print engine with aremovable print cartridge used with the print engine removed;

FIG. 4 shows a three dimensional, rear view of the print engine with theprint cartridge shown in dotted lines;

FIG. 5 shows a three dimensional, sectional view of the print engine;

FIG. 6 shows a three dimensional, exploded view of a printheadsub-assembly of the print engine;

FIG. 7 shows a partly cutaway view of the printhead sub-assembly,

FIG. 8 shows a sectional end view of the printhead sub-assembly with acapping mechanism in a capping position;

FIG. 9 shows the printhead sub-assembly with the capping mechanism inits uncapped position;

FIG. 10 shows an exploded, three dimensional view of an air supplyarrangement of the print engine;

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of components incorporated into atelescope having a built-in printer, and

FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view of a telescope having anin-built printer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIGS. 1 to 10 of the accompanying drawings, reference numeral 500generally designates a print engine, in accordance with the invention.The print engine 500 includes a print engine assembly 502 on which aprint roll cartridge 504 is removably mountable.

The print cartridge 504 is described in greater detail in our co-pendingapplications entitled “A Print Cartridge” (docket number CA02) and “AnInk Cartridge” (docket number CA04) filed as International PatentApplication numbers PCT/AU00/00741 and PCT/AU00/00742 respectively, thecontents of which are specifically incorporated herein by crossreference.

The print engine assembly 502 comprises a first sub-assembly 506 and asecond, printhead sub-assembly 508.

The sub-assembly 506 includes a chassis 510. The chassis 510 comprises afirst molding 512 in which ink supply channels 514 are molded. The inksupply channels 514 supply inks from the print cartridge 504 to aprinthead 516 (FIGS. 5 to 7) of the printhead sub-assembly 508. In thepreferred embodiment, the printhead 516 prints in four colors or threecolors plus ink which is only visible in the infrared spectrum(hereinafter referred to as ‘infrared ink’). Accordingly, four inksupply channels 514 are defined in the molding 512 together with an airsupply channel 518. The air supply channel 518 supplies air to theprinthead 516 to inhibit the build up of foreign particles on a nozzleguard of the printhead 516.

The chassis 510 further includes a cover molding 520 that supports apump 522. The pump 522 is a suction pump, configured to draw air throughan air filter in the print cartridge 504 via an air inlet pin 524 and anair inlet opening 526. Air is expelled through an outlet opening 528into the air supply channel 518 of the chassis 510.

The chassis 510 further supports a first drive motor in the form of astepper motor 530 that drives the pump 522 via a first gear train 532.The stepper motor 530 is also connected to a drive roller 534 (FIG. 5)of a roller assembly 536 of the print cartridge 504 via a second geartrain 538. The gear train 538 engages an engageable element 540 (FIG. 2)carried at an end of the drive roller 534. The stepper motor 530 thuscontrols the feed of print media 542 to the printhead 516 of thesub-assembly 508 to enable an image to be printed on the print media 542as it passes beneath the printhead 516. It also to be noted that, as thestepper motor 530 is only operated to advance the print media 542, thepump 522 is only operational to blow air over the printhead 516 whenprinting takes place on the print media 542.

The molding 512 of the chassis 510 also supports a plurality of inksupply conduits in the form of pins 544 which are in communication withthe ink supply channels 514. The ink supply pins 544 are receivedthrough an elastomeric collar assembly 546 of the print cartridge 504for drawing ink from ink chambers or reservoirs 548 (FIG. 5) in theprint cartridge 504 to be supplied to the printhead 516.

A second motor 550, which is a DC motor, is supported on the covermolding 520 of the chassis 510 via clips 552. The motor 550 is providedto drive a separating means in the form of a cutter arm assembly 554 topart a piece of the print media 542, after an image has been printedthereon, from a remainder of the print media. The motor 550 carries abevelled gear 556 on an output shaft thereof. The bevelled gear 556meshes with a bevelled gear 558 carried on a worm gear 560 of the cutterassembly 554. The worm gear 560 is rotatably supported via bearings 562in a chassis base plate 564 of the printhead sub-assembly 508.

The cutter assembly 554 includes a cutter wheel 566, which is supportedon a resiliently flexible arm 568 on a mounting block 570. The worm gear560 passes through the mounting block 570 such that, when the worm gear560 is rotated, the mounting block 570 and the cutter wheel 566 traversethe chassis base plate 564. The mounting block 570 bears against a lip572 of the base plate 564 to inhibit rotation of the mounting block 570relative to the worm gear 560. Further, to effect cutting of the printmedia 542, the cutter wheel 566 bears against an upper housing or capportion 574 of the printhead sub-assembly 508. This cap portion 574 is ametal portion. Hence, as the cutter wheel 566 traverses the cappedportion 574, a scissors-like cutting action is imparted to the printmedia to separate that part of the print media 542 on which the imagehas been printed.

The sub-assembly 506 includes an ejector mechanism 576. The ejectormechanism 576 is carried on the chassis 510 and has a collar 578 havingclips 580, which clip and affix the ejector mechanism 576 to the chassis510. The collar 578 supports an insert 582 of an elastomeric materialtherein. The elastomeric insert 582 defines a plurality of openings 584.The openings 584 close off inlet openings of the pins 544 to inhibit theingress of foreign particles into the pins 544 and, in so doing, intothe channels 514 and the printhead 516. In addition, the insert 584defines a land or platform 586 that closes off an inlet opening of theair inlet pin 524 for the same purposes.

A coil spring 588 is arranged between the chassis 510 and the collar 578to urge the collar 578 to a spaced position relative to the chassis 510when the cartridge 504 is removed from the print engine 500, as shown ingreater detail in FIG. 3 of the drawings. The ejector mechanism 576 isshown in its retracted position in FIG. 4 of the drawings.

The printhead sub-assembly 508 includes, as described above, the baseplate 564. A capping mechanism 590 is supported displaceably on the baseplate 564 to be displaceable towards and away from the printhead 516.The capping mechanism 590 includes an elongate rib 592 arranged on acarrier 593. The carrier is supported by a displacement mechanism 594,which displaces the rib 592 into abutment with the printhead 516 whenthe printhead 516 is inoperative. Conversely, when the printhead 516 isoperational, the displacement mechanism 594 is operable to retract therib 592 out of abutment with the printhead 516.

The printhead sub-assembly 508 includes a printhead support molding 596on which the printhead 516 is mounted. The molding 596, together with aninsert 599 arranged in the molding 596, defines a passage 598 throughwhich the print media 542 passes when an image is to be printed thereon.A groove 700 is defined in the molding 596 through which the cappingmechanism 590 projects when the capping mechanism 590 is in its cappingposition.

An ink feed arrangement 702 is supported by the insert 599 beneath thecap portion 574. The ink feed arrangement 702 comprises a spine portion704 and a casing 706 mounted on the spine portion 704. The spine portion704 and the casing 706, between them, define ink feed galleries 708which are in communication with the ink supply channels 514 in thechassis 510 for feeding ink via passages 710 (FIG. 7) to the printhead516.

An air supply channel 711 (FIG. 8) is defined in the spine portion 704,alongside the printhead 516.

Electrical signals are provided to the printhead 516 via a TAB film 712,which is held captive between the insert 599, and the ink feedarrangement 702.

The molding 596 includes an angled wing portion 714. A flexible printedcircuit board (PCB) 716 is supported on and secured to the wing portion714. The flex PCB 716 makes electrical contact with the TAB film 712 bybeing urged into engagement with the TAB film 712 via a rib 718 of theinsert 599. The flex PCB 716 supports busbars 720 thereon. The busbars720 provide power to the printhead 516 and to the other poweredcomponents of the print engine 500. Further, a camera print enginecontrol chip 721 is supported on the flex PCB 716 together with a QAchip (not shown) which authenticates that the cartridge 504 iscompatible and compliant with the print engine 500. For this purpose,the PCB 716 includes contacts 723, which engage contacts 725 in theprint cartridge 504.

As illustrated more clearly in FIG. 7 of the drawings, the printheaditself includes a nozzle guard 722 arranged on a silicon wafer 724. Theink is supplied to a nozzle array (not shown) of the printhead 516 viaan ink supply member 726. The ink supply member 726 communicates withoutlets of the passages 710 of the ink feed arrangement 702 for feedingink to the array of nozzles of the printhead 516, on demand.

In FIG. 10, the air supply path for supplying air to the printhead 516is shown in greater detail. As illustrated, the pump 522 includes animpeller 728 closed off by an end cap 730. The cover molding 520 of thechassis forms a receptacle 732 for the impeller 728. The cover molding520 has the air inlet opening 734 and the air outlet opening 736. Theair inlet opening 734 communicates with the pin 524. The air outletopening 736 feeds air to the air supply channel 518, which, in FIG. 10,is shown as a solid black line. The air fed from the air supply channel518 is blown into the printhead 516 to effect cleaning of the printhead.The air drawn in via the pump 522 is filtered by an air filter 738,which is accommodated in the print cartridge 504. The air filter 738 hasa filter element 740 which may be paper based or made of some othersuitable filtering media. The filter element 740 is housed in acanister, having a base 742 and a lid 744. The lid 744 has an opening746 defined therein. The opening 746 is closed off by a film 748, whichis pierced by the pin 524. The advantage of having the air filter 738 inthe print cartridge 504 is that the air filter 738 is replaced when theprint cartridge 504 is replaced.

It is an advantage of the invention that an air pump 522 is driven bythe stepper motor 530, which also controls feed of the print media tothe printhead 516. In so doing, fewer components are required for theprint engine 500 rendering it more compact. In addition, as the samemotor 530 is used for operating the air pump 522 and for feeding theprint media 542 to the printhead 516, fewer power consuming componentsare included in the print engine 500 rendering it more compact andcheaper to produce.

It is also to be noted that, in order to make the print engine 500 morecompact, the size of the print engine assembly 502 is such that most ofthe components of the assembly 502 are received within a footprint of anend of the print cartridge 504.

In FIG. 11 there is schematically depicted in block diagram form the keyinternal components of a telescope having an internal printer. Theprinter would typically utilize a monolithic printhead 814 which couldbe the same as described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10, butcould alternatively be another compact printhead capable of printing onphotograph-sized print media. An image sensor 806 receives images from alens 802 (FIG. 12) of the telescope. Image data from the image sensor806 is fed to a print engine controller 813 that controls the printhead814. A memory 815 is associated with the print engine controller andstores an image memory. This image memory might be stored upondepression of a trigger 817 for example.

A micro-controller 807 associated with the image sensor and print enginecontroller controls a motor driver 809, which in turn drives a mediatransport device 810. This might be the same as stepper motor 530described earlier.

The micro-controller 807 also controls a motor driver 811 which in turncontrols a guillotine motor 812 to sever a printed sheet from anin-built roll of print media after an image is printed. A sheet beingdriven by media transport device 810 is shown in dotted lines at 816 inFIG. 12. The guillotine might be of the form of cutter wheel 566described earlier.

FIG. 12 depicts a particular embodiment of a telescope incorporating anin-built printer. The telescope 800 includes a printer body portion 803from which there extends telescopic lens components 802 and 805.Component 802 might rotate with respect to component 802 to effectextension or retraction of the telescope for focusing on an object. Animage sensor might be provided within portion 805 and might relayinformation electronically to the eyepiece 802 in which there might beprovided an electronic display unit.

That is, the printer might be located between the image sensor and thedisplay unit. The printer body portion 803 includes a slot 804 throughwhich paper 816 having an image printed thereon can be dispensed. Atrigger 817 can be positioned on the body portion 803 or any other partof the telescope to initiate a printing operation.

In use, a person holding the telescope 800 would use eyepiece 801 toview a remote object. When ready, the trigger 817 can be depressed toactivate the print engine controller to print an image stored in memory815. This would in turn activate the micro-controller 807 to activatethe media transport 810 and guillotine 812. A printed image 816 havingpassed out of slot 804 would then be available as a permanent record.

While particular embodiments of this invention have been described, itwill be evident to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be embodied in other specific forms without departing from theessential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments and examplesare therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appendedclaims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which comewithin the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are thereforeintended to be embraced therein. It will further be understood that anyreference herein to known prior art does not, unless the contraryindication appears, constitute an admission that such prior art iscommonly known by those skilled in the art to which the inventionrelates.

1. A telescope having a built-in printer for printing a graphic imagecorresponding to an optical image received optically by the telescope.2. The telescope of claim 1, including an image sensor for sensing theoptical image and converting it to image data, and a print enginecontroller for receiving the image data and controlling a printhead toprint the graphic data based on the image data.
 3. The telescope ofclaim 2, including: a micro-control circuit operatively connected to theprint engine controller to control a motor driver for print mediatransportation; and a motor driver for operating a guillotine motor tosever a printed image from a roller of print media.
 4. The telescope ofclaim 2, including image memory associated with the print enginecontroller.
 5. The telescope of claim 1, further including imageenhancement circuitry for enhancing the image data prior to printing. 6.The telescope of claim 2, wherein the printhead is a pagewidthprinthead.
 7. The telescope of claim 2 wherein the printhead is aninkjet printhead.
 8. The telescope of claim 1, wherein the printerincludes a print engine assembly comprising first and secondsub-assemblies, the first sub-assembly incorporating an ink source andprint media, and the second sub-assembly incorporating a printhead. 9.The telescope of claim 2, including a longitudinal body through whichpasses at least some of the optical path of light entering thetelescope, and a slot extending along the body through which the graphicimage is, in use, dispensed.
 10. The telescope of claim 9, wherein theprinter includes a source of print media, configured such that the printmedia moves in a print path that is generally orbital about an axis ofthe body of the printer.